


What Might Have Been (Unfinished Works)

by twtd



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:35:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27462040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twtd/pseuds/twtd
Summary: A collection of my unfinished fics. Just scenes or parts of scenes. Things that I'll never finish but that I thought other people might be interested in reading.
Relationships: Hardbroom/Pentangle (Worst Witch)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 30





	1. Heacte's Salon (GA)

**Author's Note:**

> I asked on the discord if people would be interested in reading this sort of thing and a few people said yes. I'll put a rating on each chapter where people can skip the ones that don't interest them. Don't hold out any hope that I'll ever finish any of these. I do still appreciate comments though.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pippa attends Hecate's salon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I wrote "And She Only Looks Like You in a Certain Kind of Light," I had a different version of Hecate's hosting a salon. Like the finished work, it was about Pippa feeling like a fish out of water, which I thought was interesting because I imagine she doesn't often feel that way in social situations. I recycled some of the characters from this into the finished fic, so that's why some of the names might be familiar. This is just the first half of the opening scene.

Pippa smoothed her skirt down nervously, the pink already wrinkle-free. She looked around the courtyard to see if anyone was watching but it looked like she was alone. Someone might have been looking from the windows, but she couldn't worry about that, not with everything else she was worried about. She needed to go inside. She was no stranger to Cackle's now, not after having visited Hecate over so many weekends throughout the term. But the term was over and the only people around were the few teachers who decided to stay on, very possibly just Hecate and Ada but she thought she heard somewhere that Miss Bat and Mr. Rowan-Webb stayed sometimes too, so there was no telling really.

A deep breath later and she started forward. She could transfer. It would probably make more sense, but she needed the time it would take her to walk. She felt ridiculous as her hands trembled lightly with anxiety. It was just Hecate. Hecate and several of her very influential friends. At least, Pippa assumed they were her friends, though Hecate never really talked about them. 

"Joining us tonight, Miss Pentangle?" a voice came up from behind Pippa and she turned to see Nathaniel Nightbloom, the president of Weirdsisters' College, walking up to her. 

"So it seems, Mr. Nightbloom." Pippa gave him her best smile, the one she used to charm parents and donors and didn't show any faults as she took the arm he offered. 

"We'll be the better for it." His smile was just as charming as hers and it was hard not to be taken in by it. She tried not to show her surprise when he turned down a corridor she had never been down before as if he knew the way from long practice. It didn't help Pippa's anxiety. She had just been planning to go to Hecate's rooms but now that she thought of it, obviously Hecate wouldn't have a group of people, even a small group, in her personal sitting room. "In fact, I'm surprised I haven't seen you at one of these before. Didn't you attend school with Hecate?"

Pippa laughed lightly. What else was there to do? "We fell out of touch but we've recently become reacquainted." It was the most polite way she could think of to put it and surely Hecate wouldn't want her to say something closer to the truth. Saying something that would put Hecate in a bad light at her own gathering wouldn't be polite. 

"Well, Hecate always has interesting people around her. I can't wait to find out what you'll add to our discussion of Newt's 3rd collection of plainsong." He guided Pippa around a few turns and up a half staircase. 

Pippa's smile turned slightly brittle. "If you're waiting for that, I'm afraid you'll be waiting quite a while. Early chanting is not my forte." Saliva got caught in Pippa's throat. Maybe attending wasn't the best idea. Hecate hadn't even really invited her. She'd simply acted as if Pippa's presence was assumed, but that didn't mean anything really. What if she had no place at Hecate's gathering? What if Hecate didn't actually want her there? There was no way to discretely retreat now. 

"If I can confess something," Nathanial leaned in slightly. "It isn't mine either, but I swear Augusta tries to bring it up every time we get together. She'll be sad she doesn't have an ally." 

"Augusta?" Pippa really should have tried to get Hecate to divulge the specifics of who was attending. Everyone knew that Hecate collected the best and brightest around her in the summer during her breaks from teaching but that only narrowed things down a little. Hecate's tastes could be eccentric after all. A guest list would be so comforting just then. At least she would know what she was walking into. At least she had met Nathaniel before, even if they'd never had a substantive conversation. 

"Mayweather. She's–"

"The musical director of the Witching Philharmonic." Pippa filled in. "I just saw them do Susan Hobson's Rhapsody on a Raven's Wing and was thoroughly enchanted." Her smile circled back around to sincerity. 

"Did you? I had tickets but had a small family emergency that kept me away." They came to the end of the hallway and Nathaniel opened the door in front of them, holding it for Pippa while she preceded him into the room.

It was larger than Hecate's sitting room but not by much. It could hold maybe a dozen comfortably, though Pippa didn't count that many people in attendance. There was a sideboard set with drink and various chairs and settees collected in small groupings. Full bookcases lined the walls and a low fire warded off the slight chill that came from being so far inside the castle. There was only one thin window cutting through the far wall but well-placed lamps kept the room from being dreary. 

Pippa's eyes found Hecate right away, sitting with someone Pippa only vaguely recognized. She didn't have time to ponder it before Nathaniel was sweeping her forward. "Let's present you to the Dragon Lady." 

Pippa laughed at his description. "You make it sound like I should curtsy or something." 

"You wouldn't be the first person," Nathaniel said slyly as he laughed with her. They walked up to the cluster of chairs where Hecate was sitting


	2. The Baker AU (GA)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hecate is a famous chef with a reality tv show a la Gordon Ramsey. Pippa is a very good baker. They meet again when Hecate is the judge at a local baking competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't remember where this was going. There was a vague thought that Pippa would wind up on Hecate's tv show, but I tossed that idea away because I couldn't suspend my disbelief at the conflict of interest it would be for Hecate. I don't know that I had a back-up idea, so that might be why this stalled out.

Pippa smiled to herself as she wiped her hands off. Her pie was in the oven, and now it was just a matter of waiting until the meringue crisped up a bit. It was first thing in the morning, a bit earlier than she normally started baking, but the competition was that day and she needed to be there by 10 am to enter her pie. She had spent the week before making practice version after practice version of her lemon meringue pie. She had made so many, in fact, that even her students were sick of eating them, but she finally thought she had the recipe perfected. If there was a way to make her pie better, she didn't know it, and it was too late now anyway. 

Pippa removed her apron and looked down at her sweatpants. Somehow she had still managed to get flour on them. It was a good thing she was planning on changing anyway. She leaned against her counter and took a sip of coffee as she thought through her plan for the day. Step one had been the pie. Step two was to shower and change. After that, it was just a matter of getting herself and her pie to the fair. The last step was, of course, winning and she was confident that with this pie, she would do exactly that. Pippa looked through the oven door and checked on her meringue. It was just on the verge of the right color. She nervously wiped off her hands one more time before she put on her oven mitts, opened the door, and pulled her pie out. 

* * *

It was 9:45 by the time Pippa opened the door to her car at the county fairgrounds. Her hair was still a bit damp from where she hadn't had time to dry it all the way, but it was that or risk being late, and perfect hair hadn't been worth it. She had been waiting for this opportunity for months, and she wasn't going to miss it now. She removed the box containing her pie from where it was lovingly nestled in the passenger seat of her car, hit the button on the key fob to lock everything up, and turned toward the tent where she needed to register.

She stopped in her tracks. 

Pippa had just been turning around when a figure in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She would know that profile anywhere, even if it didn't show up on her tv on a more regular basis than was good for Pippa's psyche. Hecate. The flyers had said there would be a surprise guest judge for the various cooking competitions, but Pippa had never thought they would get someone of Hecate's stature to judge a simple county fair. She hadn't thought about who the guest judge might be at all. She knew her pie would impress anyone. Now, she wasn't so sure. Hecate was notorious for her scathing critiques, it was part of what made her cooking competition show so compelling, but Pippa hadn't intended to sign up for that experience. That she had once known a girl in pigtails who turned her nose up at any food that was green would probably make the experience worse, not better. She asked herself yet again why Hecate had disappeared on her, but like every other time before, she didn't have an answer.

Pippa sighed. She had waited months for this. It was blind judging. Hecate Hardbroom was not going to ruin it for her. She turned on her heel and marched toward the registration tent.

* * *

Hecate sat silently in the judges' tent, reflexively opening and closing the bottle of water in her hands. She wished now that she had never agreed to judge the competition. She should have known it was too close to home, that something would go wrong. Seeing a woman who was so obviously Pippa Pentangle, even if only from a distance, caused her breath to catch in her chest and her heart to beat in her throat. Her skin was cold and clammy and she didn't feel at all like her usual confident, controlled self. She prided herself on her calm demeanor, something rare in the culinary world, but in that moment, she did not feel calm. She had cooked for kings, queens, prime ministers, and presidents and hadn't blinked an eye, but one glance at Pippa and she reverted to her seventeen-year-old self, complete with sweaty palms and the overwhelming feeling that should she open her mouth she would start stuttering. She had forgotten about it for years, but with one look, her adolescent crush on Pippa Pentangle was back. 

Maybe Pippa was just there to spectate. Maybe Hecate wouldn't have to interact with her. Was that too much to ask for? 

"Miss Hardbroom?" one of the assistants poked her head around the edge of the tent flap. Hecate stopped worrying the water bottle and looked over. "It's time."

* * *

Hecate had never eaten quite so many dull, crumbly biscuits in her entire life. It was the second competition of the day, and Hecate was once again regretting volunteering to be a judge. If anyone other than Ada had asked her for the favor, she would have told them to jump in a lake, but Ada was one of her oldest and dearest friends from culinary school, and so Hecate had said yes. Hecate moved onto the next plate, broke off a piece of biscuit, and placed it in her mouth. It was one thing when she was judging savory pies, but the thought of all of the sweets she was going to have to subject herself to that afternoon was making her nauseous. At least there wasn't a candy-making competition. 

Hecate finally tasted the last of the biscuits, something with too much lavender and not enough good sense, and stepped away from the table. She joined the other judges at the back of the tent to confer. 

"Numbers three, eight, and fourteen are the only entrants I'll consider awarding anything," Hecate said in her usual clipped tone. 

"Yes, quite," Ada responded though it seemed like she would be willing to give ribbons to everyone. "Fourteen for first in my estimation, then three, then eight." 

"That's acceptable to me." Hecate crossed her arms while the third judge wrote everything down. He really hadn't had much to offer so far, but he did make a good secretary. He filled out the judging sheet, signed it, and passed it over for Hecate and Ada to add their own signatures. Once that was finished, the sheet went into a labeled envelope to be put aside until the awards ceremony at the end of the day. For now, they were taking a mid-afternoon break for tea.


	3. Pippa is a Politician AU (GA)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pippa wants to run for a spot on the Witches' Council. Hecate is skeptical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure I posted this on tumblr, but I'm posting it here again. Go look up a picture of Kyrsten Sinema getting sworn in as a senator, I'll wait. Now that you're back, tell me that she doesn't give off strong Pippa Pentangle vibes. The blonde hair, the high femme clothes, the being bisexual. She's basically an American Pippa. Thus, this fic was born. It was supposed to be all about Pippa's campaign but I ran out of steam before I got there.

"You want to do what?" Hecate asked as she put down her glass of whiskey. Neither of them had classes the next day. Hecate was staying in a guest room at Pentangle's that night, so they were indulging a bit with whiskey instead of wine and Hecate was sure the drink was creating some sort of auditory hallucination. 

"I want to run for the Witches' Council." Pippa looked at Hecate as if it were the most reasonable idea in the world which it very much was not. 

"But the Witches' Council is appointed." Hecate took a sip of the offending whiskey. Maybe if she drank more of it Pippa would start to make sense. 

"Yes, but the Witches' Code allows for challengers whenever a new member is appointed. With Ursula Hallow's dismissal, the Great Wizard will have to appoint someone new. As much as he likes me, we both know he's going to have to appoint Alfred Swisher and I don't care how young and handsome he is, Alfred's views are appalling." Pippa leaned forward in her chair, eyes bright with possibilities. 

"There hasn't been a Section Fourteen challenge in over three-hundred years." Hecate was sure Pippa knew that but she felt compelled to point it out. "And if I recall correctly, the challenger lost." 

"I'm well aware of the history. Just because it hasn't been done successfully in centuries doesn't mean it's impossible." 

"There's no way for me to dissuade you from this?" Hecate could only think about how difficult Pippa running for office would be. Who would run her school while she was campaigning? How would she deal with the increased scrutiny into her life? And if she won, she'd be sitting on a council with a Great Wizard she would have likely alienated, and that assumed she didn't alienate the rest of the council while she was running. 

"None at all. Be happy for me Hiccup." Pippa said it with enthusiasm but there was an undercurrent of pleading in her voice. 

"I… am happy for you.” Hecate tried for a smile but knew it came out more like a grimace. "I'm simply thinking of how difficult this is going to be. That doesn't mean you don't have my support." 

Pippa beamed at Hecate, somehow correctly interpreting her grimace as enthusiasm.


	4. Paris in the 1920s (GA)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hecate is an heiress with a penchant for poetry. Pippa hosts a salon and runs a bookstore. It's the Lost Generation at it's best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was working on this with my best friend and we both got distracted with other things. You get our notes about where it was going and everything.

Pippa runs a salon (and a bookstore?). Hecate is an heiress escaping society and also a poet. Ada forces Hecate to go to the salon. 

Pippa runs a fairly new West Bank bookstore which contains a small press, with which she publishes new and controversial authors. She also hosts a salon monthly, which attracts ex-pats, artists, authors, and other interesting figures. 

Ada is a Gertrude Stein figure who has been an ex-pat in Paris for a long time and also hosts a well-known salon. She persuaded Hecate to come to Pippa’s. 

Hecate is an heiress who lives an ex-pat lifestyle on the West Bank to escape the social expectations of her station at home. She was possibly a translator in WWI and never went back home. She is also a poet going by a pseudonym. When she does agree to attend Pippa’s salon with Ada, Pippa finds Hecate looking at a volume of her own poetry. Pippa attempts to be friendly with Hecate and is met with a cool response. 

They keep running into each other. 

At some point, the bookstore falls on hard times and Hecate ends up helping to keep it afloat. Maybe anonymously or as her pseudonym.

* * *

"You have to go into it with an open mind," Ada admonished Hecate as they stood on the threshold to the bookshop hosting the salon. A sign indicated that it was closed, though the door was unlocked and a few people were milling about inside. It was almost uncomfortably warm when they entered, and the room smelled of old paper and binding glue. Hecate could not help but feel comfortable surrounded by shelves and shelves of volumes. She wandered away as Ada recognized someone she knew. 

The piles of books called to her, and though she was a frequent patron of the city’s many bookshops, she had never been in this one before. It presented her with an entirely new world to explore. If she could be left alone with the books, then perhaps the salon would be tolerable. She wandered a bit more until she came to the poetry section. E.E. Cummings was stacked next to Robert McAltmen next to H.D., the bound volumes in seemingly no particular order. She shifted through them before picking up Ezra Pound’s latest work. She flipped to the first page and spent a minute reading. Tripe—his obsession with good and evil bored her. As she put it down something familiar caught her eye. It was a copy of her own work.

Hecate picked it up and held it between her palms, just staring down at the cover. She didn't need to open it. She already knew what was inside it after all, but it still surprised her sometimes to see her work anywhere other than on her own personal bookshelf. She ran her fingers over the front feeling the embossed letters that made up the single word _Poems_ that served as the title. 

"I see you've found my latest acquisition," a blonde woman said as she approached Hecate, hands clasped in front of herself. "I only have a few copies, but I've already stolen one for my personal collection." 

"And you are?" Hecate said as she raised an eyebrow. 

"Pippa Pentangle," Pippa said as she offered Hecate her hand. "You're standing in my bookshop, Miss…?"

"Hecate," Hecate paused then went on, "Hardbroom. I'm a friend of Ada's. She insisted I join her tonight." 

"Ada's friends with a good number of people, but if she's brought you along, you must be interesting." Pippa smiled tentatively. "Have you had a chance to read it yet?" She nodded toward the book in Hecate's hands. "It's quite interesting as well. No one has any idea who Asteria might be but her poetry is remarkable. It's so very modern. She has this utter irreverence for the classics but obviously knows them well. You can't reference Dante so thoroughly without having read _The Divine Comedy_ more than once. Yet she lacks the utterly masculine pretention of, say, Eliot." 

Hecate eloquently raised an eyebrow as she put the book down and pushed it away from herself with her fingertips. "Sounds dreadful. I'm not much for that sort of writing."

Pippa cocked her head to the side as if suddenly questioning Hecate's interest in a literary salon full of modernists. Hecate pursed her lips. It could be disastrous if anyone were to find out she was writing what her father would charitably call, 'clap-trap'. He allowed her her eccentricities for now as long as she confined them to the Continent and didn't raise too much of a fuss, but the daughter of an Earl writing such scandalous things as Hecate preferred for her subjects wouldn't be tolerated. If it wasn't thoroughly Shakespearean, it wasn't worth his time or hers. No, better to be thought a traditionalist bore and allowed her freedom than attract attention as some sort of bohemian. 

Still, Hecate couldn't help but be flattered by Pippa's analysis of her work. And she couldn't help but notice that Pippa had curves in all of the right places and eyes she could get lost in. 

"Well, it isn't for everyone." Pippa's smile turned tight. It was too bad, really, that Hecate's secrets meant even a passing dalliance with Pippa was too much of a risk. Hecate wondered just what else Pippa's expressive mouth could do. 

"Ah, Hecate, there you are," Ada said as she pulled Hecate away from her thoughts and approached the pair. "I see you've met our hostess. Hello, Pippa, it's good to see you again." 

"You as well. Hecate and I were just getting to know each other." Pippa fiddled with the closest book at hand.


	5. The "we got married as teenagers then never got divorced" fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hecate and Pippa got married as teenagers but never filed for divorce. Now, they've become reacquainted. What happens next?

"Besides, I like being the odd one out." Mildred smiled up at Hecate and Pippa. Hecate tried not to stare at Mildred in shock. She would have thought Mildred would have taken any opportunity available to leave Cackle's, particularly to go to somewhere like Pentangle's, where she would be accepted without question. But Mildred had chosen to stay and Hecate certainly wasn't going to do anything to change her mind. Just as much as it surprised her that Mildred didn't want to leave, her own reaction to Mildred's pronouncement surprised her as well. It seemed she would actually miss the girl were she to go elsewhere. That was something to think on. 

With a nod of dismissal from Hecate, Mildred scampered down the hallway and left Hecate alone with Pippa. They stood side by side watching her go. Hecate shifted from foot to foot as the moment grew more and more uncomfortable. A hug and a confession weren't enough to mend an entire relationship, to put them suddenly at ease with one another. 

Hecate could hear the way Pippa was trying to keep her breathing steady, slow, deep breaths followed by quick ones. She knew that habit from when they were girls, Pippa thinking through something difficult or emotional or both. 

"You never filed for divorce." 

Both. Both then. Pippa stared straight ahead. Hecate mirrored her posture. What else could she do? Tension filled the air between them. Hecate looked down the corridor then at the floor, then back down the corridor. Anywhere that wasn't at Pippa. 

"Neither did you." It was the only thing she could think of to say. She remembered their wedding. Barely of age, just the two of them alone in a grove of ancient oaks pledging to love each other forever. Despite everything, despite the distance, despite the years, it remained one of her most precious memories. 

Her parents had been livid when they discovered the marriage, their own plans for Hecate thwarted. 

"I suppose that's true." Pippa finally broke and turned to look at Hecate. "What do we do now?" 

"I… I don't know." Hecate nearly choked on the words. It was hard to admit that she didn't know something. She prided herself on always having the correct answer but she wasn't sure there was one for this. 

Pippa smiled tightly. "I should be getting home. I've two pupils who can't very well fly back by themselves." Pippa stepped away from Hecate and started to walk away. 

"Do you… do you want one?" Hecate choked out to Pippa's back. Pippa stopped and turned back to Hecate.

"Don't… don't ask me that today." Pippa looked unspeakably sad and Hecate couldn't fathom why. 

Hecate nodded. Pippa turned away again and walked down the corridor before disappearing around a corner. It would be easy enough for Hecate to follow her, but she respected Pippa's wishes and stayed where she was.


	6. Pippa Authors a Book About Sex (T)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hecate owns a bookshop. Pippa has just written a new book. That book is about sex. Hecate wants nothing to do with it, but Dimity insists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is actually fairly substantial. I got hung up on how to end it and ever came up with a good answer.

Hecate's bookshop was quiet by design. It was the kind of bookshop where a select few patrons lingered over rare first editions of potions making guides and the like, buying just enough of them where Hecate could pay her employees a decent salary, keep the lights on, and little more. It was no matter. Hecate's grandmother had left her more than enough to live on without an additional income, and so the shop remained open where others might have been forced to close. 

Oh, they sold the occasional bestseller, but only out of obligation to the small neighborhood in which they were situated. Witches and wizards, as it turned out, were not overly adept at using Amazon, so if Hecate didn't stock it, they would have to go to the next nearest magical bookstore, halfway across the city. As Hecate rarely read something less than 100 years old, she relied on Dimity to place those orders, which really was her first mistake. The second was not putting a stop to the ridiculousness before it had a chance to take root. Now, it was too late. 

The book, the ghastly, obnoxiously, _painfully_ pink book sat in pride of place in the center of one of Hecate's two large windows, and the queue of witches waiting for her to open where they could purchase the monstrosity stretched to the end of the block. 

"Look at it this way, HB, you might actually turn a profit this month," Dimity said as she looked out the window. 

"I don't need to turn a profit," Hecate muttered. She stood next to Dimity, joining her in looking at the crowd, though with significantly less relish on her face. 

"Then you can afford to give me a bonus for picking such a hit. D'you think we should go ahead and open?" she asked as she stepped toward the door. Hecate's hand on her arm stopped her. 

"We open at eight. We do not open before eight. They knew that when they showed up this morning." Hecate let go of Dimity and crossed her arms over her chest. She took another look over to the pile of books. "I do not understand the fascination with this drivel." Hecate picked up one of the books with her thumb and forefinger, held it up to eye height, then placed it back on the stack. 

"You've read it then?" Dimity asked, a smile on her face because she already knew the answer.

"Of course not." Hecate sniffed. "I don't have to read _The Erotic Arts: Sex Spells for the Modern Practitioner_ to know that it's tripe. Not only is it prurient, it involves modern magic. No, thank you." 

"You shouldn't be like that. Some of the spellwork is quite tricky and even you would be impressed with a few of the potions." Dimity straightened the books out one last time. 

"Mmm," Hecate said as she flicked open the watch around her neck to check the time. 7:59. "Alright, Miss Drill, go ahead and open the doors."

* * *

"You want me to do what?" Pippa asked. She sat in her publisher's office sipping a cup of tea. 

"We want you to go on a small book tour. Just a few signings, really." Cassandra said. 

"Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of publishing under a pseudonym?" Pippa asked as she shook her head. 

"That's why you use an anonymity spell, dear," Cassandra said it like it was the most obvious solution in the world.

"Those are notoriously finicky. I'm a teacher, for goodness sake, if it were to come out that I wrote this book, I could lose my school." It was why she had published the book under a pseudonym in the first place. She wasn't ashamed to be talking about sex, but even the generally more liberal parents of Pentangle's students would likely have a problem with the headmistress of the school writing about the best way to prolong an orgasm. 

"Look, your book has been wildly successful and we want to capitalize on that success. It's just an interview with The Witching Weekly Reader, which you can do through a blacked-out mirror and three book signings. Are you saying you can't manage the spell for three nights? Because some of the spells in your book are worlds more advanced than that."

Pippa huffed indignantly. As if she couldn't manage an anonymity spell for a few hours. Why it was something a witch of her skills could do in her sleep. She knew Cassandra was baiting her, but damn it if she wasn't going to take the bait. 

"Fine," Pippa said, "I'll do the book signings."

"And the interview?" Cassandra pushed.

"And the interview," Pippa allowed.

* * *

"Remind me again why I agreed to this." Hecate pinched the bridge of her nose as she looked around at the bustle. Her shop had never been this busy and she preferred it that way. 

"You didn't," Dimity said. "I did and I had everything set up before you could stop me." In contrast to Hecate, her eyes were alight with anticipation as she watched the witches, and exactly two wizards, mill about the shop in preparation for the signing. "Somehow, we sold more copies of the book than any other shop in the area, all thanks to me, by the way. When a publisher asks, you can't just say no."

"I could very easily have said no," Hecate drawled. 

"Good thing I didn't give you the chance then." Dimity clapped Hecate on the back and waded out into the crowd.

* * *

Pippa stood outside the bookshop. The one bookshop in all of Britain she didn't want to visit just had to be the one where Cassandra set up her first book signing. Hecate's bookshop. It had been easy enough to avoid in the several decades it had been open. Pippa didn't live nearby and most anything she wanted to read could be purchased through the school's suppliers. Still, she had always been vaguely aware of what Hecate had done with her life, where it had taken her. Pippa never would have guessed Hecate would become a bookseller, though it did make a certain amount of sense. Still, it was inconvenient that the signing was in Hecate's bookshop. She would have to be extra careful not to give herself away. 

Though the spell was already in place, Pippa chanted it once again to make sure there were no cracks in her facade and then stepped inside. 

Somehow, Cassandra knew it was her the moment the door closed behind Pippa. Pippa worried at that as Cassandra came over and draped an arm around Pippa's shoulders. "I was starting to get worried," she whispered. "Not getting cold feet are we?"

"No, I just needed a moment," Pippa replied. She needed more than a moment, but that wasn't going to happen. She put on her friendliest face, the one she used to charm donors with, and stepped to the front of the room. No one would be able to recognize her, she would look utterly nondescript, but her facial expressions would carry through, and of course, she wouldn't change her personality. She would still be Pippa Pentangle, headmistress of Pentangle's Academy for Witches and Wizards, and apparently best-selling author of the one book she could never claim. 

"Fantastic," Cassandra squeezed Pippa close and steered her around some of the people toward Hecate and the black woman standing next to her. Pippa tensed all of her muscles as they came to a stop.

* * *

Hecate's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Pippa. It was Pippa. Of all of the people Hecate thought might walk through her door to talk about a sex self-help book, it hadn't been Pippa Pentangle. Now that she thought about it, though, it did make a certain amount of sense. Pippa had never had much of a sense of shame when they were in school together. Thinking of it that way did nothing to calm Hecate's racing heart though. 

Hecate tried very hard not to think about it, to think beyond the moment and her responsibilities in it, but she couldn't help but notice that Pippa… well, she looked good. Older, certainly, but just as vibrant, just as energetic, just as beautiful as she ever had. Hecate would have thought that after 30 years she would have gotten over her silly, teenaged crush on her former best friend but apparently, that wasn't the case. A look from Pippa and her stomach churned exactly like it had when she was seventeen and besotted. 

Pippa looked fuzzy around the edges. Obviously, she was using some sort of spell to hide her true identity, but old books full of old magic had a way of interacting with some spells. Hecate doubted anyone else could see through the anonymity spell Pippa was using. No one else had been exposed to them for as long as Hecate had. Even Dimity hadn't been around long enough to feel their effects. So her identity would continue to be a mystery to all of those in attendance, everyone except for Hecate, and Hecate had no interest in giving her away. After everything, it was the least she could do for Pippa. 

"Miss Hardbroom, thank you for hosting us." Cassandra offered Hecate her hand and Hecate took it out of habit. Her eyes seemed to be stuck on Pippa though. Eventually, she managed to pull them away to look at Cassandra. 

"It's... a pleasure." Hecate pursed her lips making it clear that it was anything but. Pippa or not, she didn't appreciate her shop being turned into a place of spectacle. 

"Oh, don't listen to her, We're thrilled." Dimity pushed at Hecate's shoulder as she took Cassandra's hand herself. "Dimity Drill. We've been mirroring." 

Hecate's eyebrows climbed up to her hairline at the shove but she let Dimity take over the conversation. 

"Of course. It's a pleasure to meet you in person. And this is Mistress X." Cassandra turned to present Pippa. Dimity shook Pippa's hand with enthusiasm. 

"Really, really good to meet you." Dimity pumped Pippa's hand. "We're so excited you chose to come here. We know you probably had lots of options. Aren't we excited, Hecate?"

"Oh, certainly," Hecate said drolly. Still, she shook Pippa's hand and tried her best not to let on how it affected her. It didn't feel the same, why would it after so many years, but it still felt familiar.

It took a nudge from Cassandra before Pippa said, "It's good to be here," and hesitantly withdrew her hand.

Hecate could only wonder at what might be going through Pippa's mind, being in Hecate's shop, seeing Hecate again. Why had she even agreed to come here? At least Pippa would have had time to prepare herself. Hecate reminded herself that she couldn't let on that she knew. 

"Fantastic," Cassandra clapped her hands together. "Shall we get this show on the road?" She was already guiding Pippa to the lectern they had set up for the night leaving Hecate and Dimity with no choice but to follow her.

* * *

Pippa took one last look at Cassandra, the other woman pushing her forward slightly, and stepped up to the lectern. She coughed to clear her throat and a glass of water magically appeared on the nearby table. Pippa wasn't sure who did it, but she was thankful. She took a sip of the water and looked out over the crowd. People filled every nook and cranny of the bookshop that had a view toward the front of the main room. Pippa wouldn't put it past Cassandra to have stuck people behind her as well if there hadn't been space enough upfront. Pippa didn't look back to make sure.

Technically, it wasn't the largest group she'd ever spoken in front of, but they looked far more interested in what she had to say than a good portion of the attendees at the latest teaching conference at which she had been a keynote speaker. Even though none of these people actually knew who she was, even though she stood up in front of a classroom every day, it was still intimidating. She took another sip of water and watched as Hecate and Dimity slid into places in the back of the room. 

Pippa made eye contact with Hecate, and for some reason, that was enough to calm her down. Hecate always had been good at that, keeping her calm before exams and performances. Maybe it was something Pavlovian. She took one last deep breath. 

"Right." Pippa clapped her hands together. "I know this was a free event, so I'll try to give everyone their money's worth." She winked as a titter ran through the crowd. "I've never done one of these, so you'll have to forgive me if I wander a bit afield or stumble around some. Hopefully, I'll be entertaining enough even so." With that, Pippa launched into her prepared remarks.

* * *

Hecate did her best not to listen. It didn't matter that Pippa ended up being the speaker, the subject matter was still prurient.


	7. The Bartender AU (GA)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hecate is a bartender. Pippa just opened up the restaurant next door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm incredibly fond of this but I could never figure out where to go from what I wrote. I have a thing for bartenders. Don't question it. Just go with it.

Hecate took in a deep breath. She loved the smell of her bar: fresh citrus and old wood. She loved the organization: scotch next to rye next to bourbon, and then the rums and the gins, bar tools lined up, jiggers and peelers and stirring spoons, piles of bright orange and yellow and green next to punch bowls and pitchers. Hecate loved the feel of her bar: smooth lacquer over wood, the chill from the refrigerators, the ridges and lines on the glasses. Hecate loved her bar, but today something felt off. The very air was different. It disrupted her peace.

"The restaurant across the street is opening tonight," Dimity said from the other side of the bar. "D'you know anything about it?" Dimity was one of Hecate's regulars, annoying, yes, but less so than most people. It was early in the night and she was Hecate's only customer. Hecate placed a drink in front of her. 

"A Boulevardier," Hecate said almost absently, still fixated on trying to figure out what was wrong. "And they serve something ridiculous like fusion comfort food. It's supposed to be 'on-trend.'" Hecate nearly sneered the words out. 

"Huh," Dimity replied as she sipped her drink. It wasn't what she ordered, but then Hecate never made her what she ordered. Still, it was excellent and exactly what she had been in the mood for. Dimity didn't know how Hecate did it, but she had never given her a disappointing drink in the four years she had been coming to Cackle's. 

Cackle's was much older than that though. The restaurant had been around for over 75 years, passed down from generation to generation of Cackles, though Ada seemed to be the best of them. Even since she had taken the helm, the venerated, but somewhat staid restaurant had taken on a new life. No matter what she might think to the contrary, Hecate's legendary bartending skills were a significant part of their current renaissance. 

"Sounds interesting," Dimity said. "I'll have to give it a try." 

Hecate looked at her appalled. 

"Really, HB, it can't be that bad. And you'll never know if you don't go over there. Maybe take a couple of nice bottles of wine to welcome them to the neighborhood," Dimity continued. 

"I'm sure Ada will do precisely that, but I see no reason to involve myself," Hecate sniffed. 

"Whatever you say, HB." Dimity turned back to her drink as a server placed her dinner in front of her.

* * *

Hecate flipped open the watch that hung around her neck and looked at the time. They were scheduled to close in just a few minutes and she had already shooed off her last few patrons. She was merely waiting for 2 am to hit precisely before she locked the door. At 1:57, the door opened again, and in stepped the pinkest person Hecate had ever seen. Hecate only just managed to not roll her eyes. Of course. She should have known her feeling earlier would lead to something eventually. 

"If I promise to never come in here this late again, will you make me a drink?" the woman asked almost desperately. 

"Last call was 10 minutes ago," Hecate answered her, but she was already washing her hands and getting out a jigger. "But as there's no one else around to complain, I suppose I can make an exception." They weren't, after all, actually closed and upon closer examination, it looked like the woman needed… something. Hecate was already thinking of alternatives to whatever sickly sweet drink the woman was going to order. 

The woman sighed in relief as she fully stepped into the restaurant. "Thank you." She stepped quickly up to the bar and perched on one of the leather-clad barstools. "Would it be too much trouble for you to make me a pink lady? If it is, you can just make me a gin and tonic or something off of your cocktail menu."

"We don't have a cocktail menu," Hecate sniffed as she turned and retrieved an egg from the small refrigerator behind her. A pink lady was a perfectly acceptable drink and exactly what she would have made the woman had she not ordered it. Perhaps the woman knew something about cocktails despite the _pink_. 

"You don't?" the woman looked at her as if that fact required deep concentration.

"No." Hecate measured out the gin, applejack, lemon juice, and grenadine, carefully pouring each into her shaker. A crack of egg and a tap on the end of one tin to make sure of the seal, and she started shaking the cocktail. The clatter of the ice was its own form of music and Hecate reveled in it. A minute later and Hecate poured the drink into a chilled glass. A lemon peel garnish topped it off, and she placed the drink on a cocktail napkin in front of the woman. "Your pink lady."

"Thank you," the woman practically melted into the bar as she took her first sip. "That's delicious." She sat back up straight after a moment. Hecate studied her face. She looked exhausted but happy, proud even, though what of Hecate wouldn't guess. "You really don't have a cocktail menu?"

Hecate pursed her lips. "We have one in the restaurant," Hecate relented as she pulled a menu out from behind the bar and handed it to the woman. "We do not, however, have one in the bar." 

The woman took the menu, eyes scanning over it in seconds. "Classic," she said and Hecate didn't know whether to be insulted or not. 

"That is what we're known for," Hecate said. "Your drink wasn't invented yesterday." 

"True." The woman smiled at Hecate and took another sip, her smile growing just a bit as the liquid slid down her throat. "And it really is lovely." 

Hecate nodded her thanks. A few taps on her computer later, and she was placing the woman's check in front of her. She said, "take your time," though she was ready to go home. She returned to cleaning up the bar as the woman sipped at her drink. 

"Don't worry, I won't keep you," the woman said. She pulled a credit card from her purse and slid it over to Hecate. "I've just moved into the neighborhood, as it were, and it wouldn't do to piss off the neighbors already. I'm Pippa, by the way." Hecate handed the credit card slip back to Pippa, which Pippa signed with a flourish. 

"Hecate," she found herself offering her hand to Pippa, pleasantly surprised at the firm grip she got in return. 

"I'll remember that," Pippa replied. She pushed her empty glass away and stood. "Thank you for the drink. I know you must want to get out of here." 

"We were still open," Hecate said diffidently. Despite the late hour, it had been worth it to find someone who actually knew their drinks. That the woman was possibly the most beautiful person Hecate had ever encountered in real life only added to her willingness to stick around. She could handle getting home just a bit later.

* * *

"I simply don't see why I need to come along," Hecate said to Ada. She looked both ways before she followed Ada out into the street. The walk to Modern Magic was short, but Hecate didn't fancy getting run over. 

"Because we want to be welcoming and you're my second in command. Besides, I needed someone to carry some of the wine," Ada said. Hecate supposed the latter was at least true. Ada couldn't carry six bottles of wine on her own.


	8. The Teachers AU (E)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hecate and Pippa are (non-magical) teachers at a girls boarding school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a whole outline here and then a few of the scenes that I managed to write. Those scenes are explicit and at the time, they were the only scenes I was super into writing, so the rest of the fic never happened.

1\. As was in the prompt, Hecate teaches chemistry at a small girls' boarding school. She's also the deputy headmistress. She's been teaching there for her entire career and even though she thinks no one can tell (they all can) she really loves the place. She loves the students and she loves teaching and she tolerates the other staff members. She has a routine and she's set in it. It's worked for years. She basically has everything about her job down to an exact science.   
At some point over the summer, without Hecate's input (Hecate was off teaching an intensive class on pedagogy over the summer), Ada hires a new English instructor, one Pippa Pentangle. Pippa moves in a week before the start of classes and has the bad luck of being put in the same hallway as Hecate, which has heretofore been empty. They don't meet when Pippa moves in because Hecate isn't back yet. 

2\. Pippa's alarm on her phone is a bit too loud and Hecate has very sensitive ears, so her alarm wakes Hecate up as well. Hecate is NOT happy about it because it disrupts her routine and because she likes to sleep as late as possible. Everyone knows that you do not disturb Miss Hardbroom before 10 am on the weekends unless the building is burning down or someone is in mortal danger. In any event, Hecate is very, very grumpy the first time she meets Pippa over breakfast. A grumpy Hecate is a disdainful Hecate (even more so than normal). She dislikes Pippa from the moment she first sets eyes on her.

3\. Pippa isn't sure what's up with the chemistry teacher, but she's friendly anyway. She tries to make conversation with her over the few days before the semester starts but doesn't gain much traction. 

4\. Dimity ships it basically from the moment she sees Hecate and Pippa meet. There's no way Hecate would let someone get under her skin that much if there wasn't a reason beyond, "she makes me wake up early."

5\. With school starting, Mildred and her cohorts arrive to cause chaos. Pippa immediately takes a shine to them. Hecate thinks she's playing favorites. Pippa accuses Hecate of playing favorites as well, ahem, Ethel. They get into a fight about it. Pippa decides she doesn't much care for Hecate after all. 

6\. There's lots of using students, mainly Esme, to pass passive aggressive notes between Miss Heardbroom and Miss Pentangle's classrooms. If anyone were to read the notes, ahem, Enid, it would seem like they were being perfectly polite. Hecate and Pippa both know better. Enid quickly gets tired of reading the notes because they seem so dull. Esme, who sees them writing the notes and reacting to the notes, knows better. 

7\. Esme ships it mainly because the idea of it seems romantic. None of the other students believe her, particularly not Ethel who sees Pippa as too frivolous and doesn't like her at all. 

8\. Hecate and Pippa are perfectly polite to each other when they have to interact in person. Hecate is no more or less disdainful of Pippa than she is of the other faculty. Pippa is just as cheery with everyone. 

9\. At night, when they're in their rooms, they completely ignore each other if they happen to run into each other. There's lots of glaring. The facade of politeness goes away. 

10\. One night Pippa is playing some music too loudly and after suffering through it for an hour, Hecate finally decides to tell Pippa to turn the music down. She bangs on Pippa's door. Pippa answers and, after Hecate insults Pippa's taste in music, they get into another fight that's about far more than just music. In a bid to just make Hecate shut up, Pippa kisses her. They end up making out. Hecate pushes Pippa up against her doorframe and tries to take over the kiss. Pippa won't let her. There's lots of back and forth and grasping hands and they just can't get close enough to each other. Eventually, they need to breathe. Hecate is staring down at Pippa's blown pupils and swollen lips and is on the verge of just dragging Pippa back into Pippa's room to fuck her when there's a sound in the hallway behind Hecate. She spins around, glares, and charges off to see what made the noise.

11\. Mildred is fleeing the scene as quickly as she can. She didn't see the fight, but she definitely saw the kiss. She gets back to her room before Hecate can catch up with her, but Hecate knows someone saw her and Pippa and she is completely mortified. She goes stalking back to her room, takes a look at Pippa who is still standing beside her door, and goes into her own room, slamming the door behind herself. Pippa is thoroughly insulted. 

12\. Mildred totally ships it now and convinces Enid and Maud that Miss Hardbroom and Miss Pentangle are meant for each other. They conspire to get Miss Hardbroom and Miss Pentangle together. It… doesn't go well. There are cute hijinks though.  
Hecate and Pippa are fighting again. They completely avoid each other. Ada frets. Dimity gets Hecate drunk (not sure how) and spends the night listening to her rant about Pippa and eventually, she tells Dimity that she kissed Pippa and it was life alteringly good and she wants to do it again but Pippa hates her even more now than she did before. Dimity vows to fix it. She pours Hecate into bed. Pippa catches her sneaking out of Hecate's room and thinks the worst.

13\. Suddenly Pippa doesn't have the energy to fight with Hecate anymore. She's just completely despondent. Everything sucks. 

14\. They go on a school trip. Dimity finds a way to force them to stay in the same room. Pippa makes a snarky comment about Hecate wanting to stay in a room with her girlfriend. Hecate is all wtf?!?!? I don't have a girlfriend. Pippa says there's no reason to lie to spare her feelings. Pippa is perfectly happy to switch with Dimity for the night. They fight about how Hecate doesn't have a girlfriend. "I think I'd know if I was dating someone!" "Stop lying to me." "I'm not. Oh, for Christ's sake," Hecate grabs Pippa and kisses her. 

15\. They fuck. 

16\. Neither of them can walk straight the next morning. There might be some new bruising. No one wants to see what Hecate's back looks like. Dimity is not so subtly pleased with herself. She teases them hardcore. Hecate verbally decapitates her. Dimity doesn't even care because she was sooooo right. The End.

* * *

"She's insufferable," Hecate complained. The only person in the staff room to hear her was Dimity Drill, who huffed. 

"You think I'm insufferable, remember?" Dimity poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at one of the tables. 

"You've been promoted to merely annoying." Hecate poured her own cup of tea and joined Dimity at her table. 

"I'm not sure how I feel about that." Dimity sipped her tea. Once she swallowed, she spoke again. "She's barely been here two days. Classes haven't even started yet. What could she possibly have done to upset you?" 

"Her rooms are in the same hall as mine and she gets up at 5:30 every morning," Hecate said it like it was the gravest sin imaginable. As someone who enjoyed their sleep, it very well might have been. Everyone knew that you didn't disturb Miss Hardbroom before her morning tea unless the building was burning down or someone was in mortal danger. That went double on weekends when she wasn't to be disturbed before 10 am at the very earliest. 

"There's no way you can hear her alarm. The walls are too thick for that." 

"Nevertheless, I have been woken at 5:30 on both of the past two mornings." Hecate looked pointedly over the rim of her teacup. She woke up at 6:30 precisely every morning. She did not appreciate her schedule, one built up over years, being disrupted. It threw off her entire day. 

"Maybe you could just ask her to turn the volume down on her alarm? Seems like the simplest solution to me." Dimity finished her tea and stood up. "Anyway, I'll be down in the gym if you need me, you know, for something other than complaining about Miss Pentangle." Dimity shook her head fondly she reached for the door just as it opened. "Speak of the devil." She stepped back to let Pippa into the room. 

"Oh, excuse me," Pippa said to Dimity as she slid past her. Dimity smiled at her. 

"No worries, Pippa. Just be careful of that one." Dimity motioned toward Hecate with her head as she raised her voice slightly. "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something." She edged out of the room and let the door fall behind her a smile at her own joke on her face.

Hecate huffed. "I think I'll be taking my leave as well." She stood up, rinsed out her cup and set it aside. 

"Well, alright." Pippa blinked in confusion. 

"Miss Pentangle," Hecate enunciated each word as and nodded and followed Dimity out of the room.

* * *

Pippa wasn't exactly sure what all of that was about. She poured her own cup of tea and took a seat in one of the club chairs beside the fireplace. It was too hot for a fire to be lit, but the area was cozy, and she was taking a break from preparing her classroom for the upcoming school year. She looked up as the door opened and Ada walked in. 

"Oh, Pippa, I'm so glad I caught up with you." Ada smiled gently as she went over to make her own tea. 

"What can I do for you, Headmistress?"

* * *

The song looped around again and Hecate couldn't stand it anymore. If she had to listen to _Heart of Glass_ one more time, she was going to go insane. How many times could a woman listen to one song in a row? All she wanted to do was read her book in peace but Pippa was clearly determined to make that impossible. 

The song reached its end. Hecate thought she might have a moment of silence. 

_Once I had a love and it was a gas_   
_Soon found out I had a heart of glass_

The words filtered into Hecate's sitting room yet again. Hecate rubbed her forehead as a headache started to pound behind her eyes. She was ready to tear her hair out. It was a Friday night. If Pippa wanted to listen to such infernal music, there had to be somewhere in town to accommodate her tastes, a bar or disco or something. 

_Lost inside adorable illusion and I cannot hide_

Hecate carefully put her bookmark in her book and stood up. As much as she didn't want to speak to the other woman, she would just have to go explain to Pippa that she could not play her music that loudly. Or at all, if it came down to it. She pulled her black dressing gown on over her nightgown. A pair of slippers later and she stalked out her door and over to Pippa's. She banged on it with the side of her fist. She did, after all, have to make sure Pippa could hear her over the racket in her rooms. When there was no answer, Hecate banged again. She almost fell forward when the door suddenly opened. The music got louder now that the door was no longer blocking it. 

"Yes?" Pippa asked before the door was even fully open. As soon as Pippa saw who it was, her eyes went hard. "Something I can do for you, Miss Hardbroom?" She crossed her arms over her chest which only served to draw Hecate's attention downward. She took in Pippa's oversized tee shirt, track shorts, and bare feet with a glance. Really, no one should be allowed to display that much leg. It only served to irk Hecate more.

"You can turn off that infernal noise." She glared at Pippa. 

_In between_   
_What I find is pleasing and I'm feeling fine_

The words assaulted her. She clenched her fists. 

"My _music_ is at a perfectly reasonable level as we're nowhere close to quiet hours and it's a Friday night." Pippa widened her stance and planted herself in front of Hecate. 

"Your music is driving me insane," Hecate shot back. Why couldn't Pippa just do as she was asked? "How many times must you listen to that song? Surely you have it memorized by now." 

"That song is a classic and I will listen to it as many times as I want as I'm doing it in my room on my night off." Pippa's words were clipped. 

[something happens here]

"You're infuriating," Pippa said with a raised voice. 

"I'm infuriating? I'm not the one blasting Blondie through the halls and wearing–" Hecate didn't get the chance to finish as Pippa's lips were suddenly pressed against hers. She wasn't thinking when she opened her mouth and returned the kiss. That was her only excuse: she wasn't thinking. She wasn't thinking when she stepped further into Pippa's space. She wasn't thinking when she pressed Pippa up against the door jam, and she certainly wasn't thinking when she grabbed Pippa's ass in her far too short shorts and used her grip to haul Pippa closer. 

Pippa didn't seem to be complaining though. Her tongue was right there along Hecate's fighting for dominance. She nipped at Hecate's lip hard enough to make Hecate suck in a breath but that only spurred Hecate on. She pressed their bodies tighter together. She could feel Pippa's breasts pushing against her own, could feel the way her breathing had picked up. Hecate's had done the same. She gasped as she felt Pippa's hands sink into her hair and tug at it. It only served to make her crazier. This entire affair was crazy. It was ill-advised. It was not something Hecate planned on stopping anytime soon. 

Pippa's lips were soft yet firm underneath hers. Pippa finally wrenched her lips away to give them both a second to catch their breath. Hecate ignored breathing in favor of attacking Pippa's neck with her lips and teeth and tongue. Pippa whimpered and hooked one of her legs behind one of Hecate's calves. 

"God, Hecate," Pippa whispered as she arched her neck under Hecate's touch. Hecate squeezed Pippa's ass harder and Pippa shuddered. Using the hands she still had wrapped in Hecate's hair, Pippa pulled Hecate up into another kiss. This kiss was softer but only by fractions. Hecate slid one of her hands down Pippa's thigh and encouraged her to lift it up. Pippa took the suggestion and hooked her leg around Hecate's hip. 

Pippa was hot beneath her and Hecate couldn't keep her hands still. She slipped one under Pippa's shirt, over her stomach, to her bare breast. They both moaned as Hecate squeezed Pippa's breast. Like Pippa's lips, her breast was soft and firm beneath Hecate's hand, her hard nipple burning a hole in Hecate's palm. As Hecate thumbed Pippa's nipple, Pippa arched forward but managed to twist herself away from Hecate's lips. 

"Inside… We should," Pippa panted. "Hallway." She leaned her body toward the inside of her rooms. Hecate looked down at Pippa, with her swollen lips and her dilated pupils, and knew without a doubt that they were about to have sex. She was just getting ready to move when she heard a gasp behind her. 

Hecate panicked. Her eyes went wide as she jumped away from Pippa. She spun around looking for the culprit just in time to see a braid disappear around the corner. With fury on her face, Hecate stalked to the end of the hallway. She didn't see anyone, but she heard the sound of running feet. None of the students should have been in the teachers' wing of the building so late at night. Hecate would catch whoever had been spying on her. She followed the sound down several hallways, her long legs eating up the distance. Still, as she got to the juncture of two hallways, the sound faded away. Whoever it was could have gone in any direction. It could have been any of the girls, though she had a strong suspicion which one it might be. She turned in a circle looking for a clue but there wasn't one to be found. 

God, what had she been thinking? To get so caught up, so out of her head. And with Pippa of all people. She retraced her steps back to the teachers' wing all the while mentally berating herself for her distraction. It had been stupid. It had been reckless. It couldn't happen again.

Hecate turned the last corner only to find Pippa still leaning against her door frame. The music was off. She stopped and stared at Pippa. She looked… debauched. Hecate could see a red mark on Pippa's neck. Hecate had done that. She was the reason Pippa looked ready to be fucked. 

Hecate panicked again. Someone had seen them. Someone had nearly seen Hecate fuck Pippa in the hallway. It was mortifying. It couldn't happen again. She squared her shoulders, held her head up, and started down the hallway, staring Pippa down the entire time. She reached her own door and put a hand on the knob. 

"This never happened," she said roughly before she opened her door and disappeared inside. She closed it hard behind her. A second later, she heard Pippa's door slam closed. The music started again only louder. 

_Once I had a love and it was a gas_   
_Soon found out I had a heart of glass_

* * *

"We're not…" Hecate started to raise her voice. Pippa was mad. She was completely mad. Hecate and Dimity were not, had never been, and would not be an item and that Pippa believed it to be true was ludicrous. 

"Haven't you humiliated me enough? You don't have to lie to spare my feelings." Pippa narrowed her eyes. 

Hecate didn't know how to put it any more plainly. She wasn't sure why it was important that Pippa believe her, but it was. "I'm not lying. I think I'd know if I was dating someone."

"But you and Dimity…" 

"Are friends," Hecate nearly yelled in frustration. "Jesus Christ, Pippa." 

"I saw her–" 

Hecate made a noise of frustration. "What is it going to take to make you believe I am not interested in Dimity Drill?" 

"I don't know!" Pippa yelled back. Hecate couldn't stand it anymore. She surged forward and caught Pippa's lips with her own. Pippa made a noise of shock but responded immediately. She opened her mouth under Hecate's and wrapped her arms around Hecate's neck. They ended up pressed against the hotel room wall. Hecate forced their bodies closer together. Pippa wasn't content to just let it happen. She arched into Hecate. Tongues and teeth and lips battled against each other to see who would take the lead but they came to a stalemate when the need to breathe became overwhelming. Hecate's arms bracketed Pippa's head. She rested her forehead against the wall but turned her face toward Pippa as she fought to catch her breath. 

Pippa disentangled her hands from Hecate's hair and ran them over the sides of Hecate's neck. Hecate shivered at the contact. 

"You're not allowed to run away this time," Pippa said it right into Hecate's ear. There was no way Hecate could pretend she hadn't heard her. "If we're doing this, you're not allowed to run." 

Hecate took a deep breath then swallowed. "I'm not going anywhere." 

Pippa pressed back on Hecate's shoulders until they could make eye contact. "Then fuck me, Hecate. Take me to bed and fuck me." 

Hecate dove into Pippa's lips once again.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's that.


End file.
